It's been a cold, bleak winter in

Burnett County!

Spring officially started on March 20, but there were no tu-

lips blooming. We may have to wait until Memorial Day for the

"perma frost" to disappear.

On a lighter note, please make

plans to attend the great pro-

grams that have been planned with you in mind. I know there

are precious few week-ends in the summer, but you are im-

portant to that lake you live on! Why not fill your mind with some

comprehensive information that

will give you an insight to your

water and riparian environment?

You'll never regret it.

I look forward to meeting you at

these meetings.

The BCL&RA is always looking

for dedicated people to join the

BCL&RA Board. If you or some-

one you know would be interested in committing some time to en-

hance or association, please call,

write or email Mike Kornmann at the UW-Extension Office. We'd

love to have you aboard!

Congratulations to Barb Gilbert of

the Burlingame Lake Association.

She was the winner of a paid reg-istration to the WAL Convention

in Green Bay April 10 - 12.

My tenure as president of the

Burnett County Lakes & Rivers Association will be ending in July,

but I will remain on the Board of

Directors. I have been appointed to the WAL Board of Directors.

My appointment will bring the voice and concerns of Northern

Wisconsin lake areas to a state-

wide organization.

Sincerely,

Susan Wallin, BCL&RA President

SPRING/SUMMER 2003 ISSUE

President’s Column

Lakelines Editor—Michael Kornmann UW-Extension Community Development Agent Newsletter Design—Marleen Seul UW-Extension Secretary

L a k e L i n e s

Table of Contents

Got Geese? by John Haack 2

& 3

New Book Available 3

Brag Board on County Website 3

Wisconsin Shoreland Program 4

The Big Four—Shoreland

Management Issues 5

BCL&RA Board Members 6

BCL&RA Membership Application 6

Milfoil Article 6

Satellite Assist ….by John Haack 7

Dates to Remember Back Page

University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension –Burnett County

Got Geese?

If you live on Mudhen Lake or any number of other Burnett County lakes the likely answer is, yes. De-

pending on your point of view these geese are either a blessing or a curse. What can I do about geese

on our lake or on my property?

These big birds have a voracious appetite that in the end deposits an average of 28 droppings per day

totaling 1 to 1 ½ pound of feces. Because these birds have a rudimentary digestive system, they eat

frequently and expel their partly digested remains in short order. One estimate clocked the bill to

butt time in just seven minutes. During mid-day and again at night these geese spend time within the

relative safety of their local resting area or roost “the lake out your front window”. City parks and golf

courses are often hard hit as small ponds surrounded by acres and acres of lawn provide ideal condi-

tions for these adaptable turf moochers.

As a lake front property owner your concern might be related to geese impacts on your lawn or how all

that goose poop is impacting the water quality in your lake.

Geese and water quality. While studies have shown that the greatest impact is on small shallow lakes,

the following actions are recommended to all lakeshore property owners.

Don’t’ feed ducks or geese. What seems like great fun can easily turn into a nuisance problem quickly.

Your lake doesn’t need the small amount of extra imported nutrients from the corn, oats or even pop-

corn you are providing. Remember just seven minutes from bill to butt. The birds will do just fine on

their own- we call them wildlife for a reason. Even if you view them as fantastic creatures to have on

your front lawn many other folks may not

see it that way. The Department of Natu-

ral Resources and your County Land and

Water Conservation Department receive

numerous complaints from goose weary

lakefront property owners

Limit Lawns. With the loss of prairies

and savannahs, lawns next to water pro-

vide ideal habitat for Canada Geese. Like

all animals, habitat is the key for success-

ful goose growth. While it’s not the entire

answer, goose-feeding habitat is some-

thing you can control on your lakeshore.

A number of researchers have found that

geese prefer new growth stimulated by

frequent mowing – the same thing that

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L a k e L i n e s

turf experts recommend for managing lawns. As the grasses get taller they are less palatable. Geese

also have a preference for fertilized grass over non-fertilized turf. Not fertilizing and allowing the

grass near the waters edge grow taller and tougher will help discourage goose grazing.

Geese get nervous in confined spaces without a good view at goose eye level. Planting patches of taller

vegetation will help discourage goose use on you property. Vegetation management is the most fre-

quent recommended practice for controlling goose use in parks, golf courses and lakeshore property.

Reconsider your view of the perfect shoreline. We are devoted to our lawns and for some very nice

reasons. However, as they slowly blanket the natural landscapes of our shorelines they eliminate hab-

itat for many lakeshore critters that live in this vital edge of our lakes. Think about a view to the

lake though the trees rather than without them. Consider leaving and un-mowed strip 35 feet or more

in width - slowly this area will re-establish a vegetative zone of taller grasses, shrubs, saplings and

eventually trees – just the kind of stuff that geese want to avoid. Leaving a mowed access path will

provide a nice corridor for getting to and from the lake while minimizing the goose greens along the

water. A serpentine path eliminates the direct view geese desire and will help discourage them from

traveling to the turf area behind the taller vegetation bordering the shore. Turf behind this vegeta-

tive buffer can provide you enjoyment and is less likely to be used by geese as they ponder what un-

known creature is lurking in the buffer

Ultimately limiting the amount of suitable habitat and the size of the goose population will provide

long-term solutions. Finally, most surveys of lakeshore owners suggest that viewing wildlife is a high

priority. With this in mind perhaps a little tolerance for wildlife maybe the easiest solution in most

situations.

If you have room in the news letter consider adding this

You can find additional information on managing geese in the following

publications:

Managing Problems Caused by Urban Canada Geese. Available on line at

http://extension.usu.edu/publica/natrpubs/geese.pdf

Canada goose web pg. University of Minnesota http://www.fw.umn.edu/research/

goose/html/default.html

Author: John Haack, University of Wisconsin Extension

New book available "How's The Water?"

A must for your organization.

Explore how lake associations

can manage recreational con-

flict. The book is published

by UW-Extension and

edited by Bob Korth.

Price: $19.95 + S & H

Contact: UW-Extension

Lakes

715/346-2116

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Remember to submit your fish & game photos to:Brag Board, 7410 County Road K, #129, Siren, WI 54872. Visit the Brag Board on the Outdoor Page at:

www.burnettcounty.com

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Students Battle Exotic Invader

Minocqua, Hazlehurst and Lake Tomahawk middle school students are joining the fight to save

Wisconsin’s northern waters from the harmful aquatic exotic invader Eurasian Water Milfoil.

On April 26, students and adults will be stationed at the Jackson Town Hall to distribute informa-

tional materials to boaters to help them understand how they can prevent the spread of this and

other exotic species. The workshop will begin at 2:00 p.m. and is scheduled to run until 5:00 p.m.

The program is sponsored by UW-Extension Adopt-a-Lake and Burnett County Land & Water Con-

servation. The effort is the work of the Milfoil Masters, a group of students from the three

school districts. They received a $25,000 grant from the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foun-

dation to develop an educational program on aquatic invasive species and make it available to oth-

ers.

Eurasian water milfoil (EWM) is a harmful aquatic plant that can choke out native plants and ani-

mals and form thick mats just below the water’s surface that can hamper boating, swimming and

fishing. Like all other aquatic invasive species, EWM travels from lake to lake by attaching to

boats, trailers, motors, or other water equipment and detaching itself when that equipment en-

ters another lake. There are now 371 Wisconsin lakes and 59 counties that have been infested

with EWM.

The Milfoil Masters have developed a tool kit that can be used at boat landings to educate Wis-

consin boaters of the potential problems of Eurasian Water milfoil and other aquatic invasive spe-

cies. The tool kit contents include informational material about EWM that can be given to boaters

at boat landings.

An educational sticker can be obtained at the workshop. Boaters are

encouraged to place that sticker on their boat trailer to make a visual

commitment to continually check their recreational equipment for un-

wanted plant fragments, wash their boat before going into another lake,

and open and empty all bait buckets in the trash. The sticker will also

help remind them of the difference in appearance between native milfoil

and Eurasian Water Milfoil.

For more information concerning this event, contact Dave Ferris at the

Burnett County Land & Water Conservation Office, 349-2186.

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Burnett County

Lakes & Rivers

Association

Board Members

Susan Wallin

President

Fred Kruger

Vice –President

Greta Michaels

Secretary

Buck Gooding

Treasurer

Board of Directors

Dick Golding

Lin Lehmicke

Shirley Sandquist

Lois Dornfeld

Jim McLaughlin

Tom Twining

Satellites Assist In Water Quality Assessments

by John Haack

Natural resource managers have been using satellite images of earth

to assess natural resources for many years. Many people have seen

satellite photos of the Amazon rain forest that show quite plainly the

number of fires that rage across Brazil. By comparing photos of the

same area from week-to-week or even day-to-day it is possible to de-

termine how many fires are burning on average and how much land they typically consume.

This same technology is being developed to compare the water clarity of lakes across Wis-

consin as well as track changes in those lakes. But this technology has applications beyond

water clarity. By using images from different light spectrums, like infrared, scientists can

track things like algae development and even estimate how much algae is in a particular lake.

This breakthrough does not mean that lake volunteers will soon be turning in their Secchi

disks (click here for a description of a Secchi disk: http://dipin.kent.edu/

whatis_secchi_disk.htm ). The application of this technology is great for assessing natural

resources on a broad scale, like a county or a state; but it has limitations when applied with a

relatively narrow focus such as an individual lake. Scientists still need samples from lakes to

make sure that their interpretations of satellite images match with what is actually occur-

ring on the ground. Furthermore, access to high-quality satellite images is expensive and one

cannot make any definitive assessments about a lake with a single photo. (That would be akin

to taking a picture of a lake in February and assuming that it is frozen all year round.) A lake

needs to be monitored regularly in order to determine if it is holding steady or on the road

to ruin. So far, the most economical and accurate way to monitor lakes is with the help of

volunteers who use relatively simple equipment and techniques.

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Have a great Spring & Summer!

UW– Extension Community Development Agent

7410 County Road K, #107

Siren, WI 54872

Phone: 715-349-2151

Fax: 715-349-2102

Email: mike.kornmann@ces.uwex.edu

T h e L a k e

N e w s l e t t e r F o r

B u r n e t t C o u n t y

R i p a r i a n s

Burnett County

Lakes & Rivers

Association

Bulk Rate Postage & Fees Paid

USDA Permit No. G268

Dates to Remember

Saturday, April 26, 2003

Burnett County Lakes & Rivers Association Spring Meeting

Buzz Sorge/WDNR, "What's With The Water?"

Saturday, April 26, 2003

Invasive Species (Eurasion Milfoil) Workshop

2:00 - 5:00 p.m. - Jackson Town Hall

Friday, June 27, 2003

Northwest Lake Leaders Conference

See Enclosed Brochure & Registration

Saturday, July 19, 2003

Burnett County Lakes & Rivers Annual Meeting

Forts Folle Avoine

10:00 a.m. - Elections & Program